Published 11:00 am, Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Advancing horizontal drilling and completion technology has been credited with spurring shale oil and gas plays across the country.

Horizontal drilling and completions, particularly multilateral wells, were the focus of a technical forum presented by the American Association of Drilling Engineers.

Multilaterals, said Cliff Hogg, manager, reentry systems with Weatherford Services in Houston, can reduce the cost of the project itself by reducing costs for wellheads, equipment, artificial lift and pipelines. They reduce the surface footprint, and they improve reserves and productivity.

While horizontal activity is taking place in the Permian Basin, it is less common than in other areas, he noted, and offered several reasons. One reason is there is less financial incentive for horizontal completions in the Permian Basin because there are less location restrictions. Another reason is the complexity of past systems and Permian Basin operators are more adverse to risk.

"How do you promote multilaterals in the Permian Basin?" he asked. "You make them simple, you lower risk, you offer cheaper multilaterals," and by cheaper, he explained he meant designed to fit into the entire project "while remaining compatible with existing drilling and completion techniques."

Multiple horizontal fracturing, said Todd Broome with Halliburton, is critical to increasing production from mature basins. The three main considerations, he told the group, are isolation points, fracture points and frac sleeves.

Bryan Fitzhugh, technical manager with Peak Completion Technology, said the majority of his company's business is horizontal completions. He estimated some 214 horizontal wells have been completed with 2,500 fracturing stages utilizing his company's equipment over the last three years. In the Permian Basin, Peak has done work in Southeastern New Mexico and Pecos and Ward counties.

"It's a growing trend," he said.

One of the main issues with horizontal open hole completions -- known as Levels One and Two, is hydraulics. "There is no way to get a casing integrity test," he said. "We have developed a tool to change the hydraulic port," allowing for casing integrity tests. The tool has been utilized in the Northeast and in Canada and Fitzhugh said it is being introduced into the Permian Basin.

Peak has also just signed an agreement with Tendeka to provide swellable packers, he reported.

Another issue, according to Gary Gill with Smith Services, part of Schlumberger, is isolating laterals. He detailed his company's new multilateral rapid frac and its TAP completion system with its valve darts.

Chris Johnson with Baker Hughes introduced his company's frac point system and frac sleeves and offered a video of the company's new frac balls, which are designed to disintegrate.

Broome discussed Halliburton's Rapidfrac completion system, which allows for multiple frac sleeves to be open at the same time. The new technology, he said, requires much less water and can help speed up the fracturing process.